Yearning for Comfort
by Dying With A Smile
Summary: Depressed by her grandfather's death, Mikan cries out for comfort.


**Yearning for Comfort  
**_Written by Dying With A Smile_

* * *

An ambulance. An unwanted call. A tear-shedding funeral. And the depression… Mikan's grandfather, the one who took good care of her for all her young years, had finally passed away because of a heart-attack. It's been a month after his funeral, which happened a couple of days after his death, and still, Mikan was in depression. She's been stuck at home longer than her own mother has (only one week did she stay in the house then she felt like it haunted her, so she left). It was near nine o'clock at night when she cried out, "Please, send me some comfort!"

Before her appeared an angel with dirty blonde hair and impassive honey-brown eyes. What caught Mikan's sight was the light of the angel and how large the wings were. "Cry no more," said the angel. "Comfort is on its way, but you must attend school tomorrow."

"Attend school?" Mikan choked. "But grandpa always drove me to school and waited for me at the school gates! And everyone will criticize me for staying at home for a month, crying over grandpa."

"You yearn for comfort, no?" the angel spoke. "Then you _mustn't_ miss school tomorrow. There will be your comfort. But do not search for him, for he shall find you."

"O-OK," Mikan agreed. About the time when the angel was about to leave, Mikan asked, "What's your name?"

"My name is Otonashi, Yura," the angel said. "And please do not bother to tell me yours, Mikan Sakura, for I have been watching you along with God."

Mikan nodded silently and watched the angel leave in quiet bliss. The peaceful rest that Mikan has been longing for has been given unto her this very night. When Yuka had returned from work and went to see her daughter, she saw the peeks from her door and she saw a great light. She assumed it was the light in her room but when she opened it, she couldn't see in the room at all for it was too bright for the natural eye.

This time, she had guessed right; an angel was in there.

Yuka closed the door quietly and went to her own room. Softly and soundly, she went on top of her bed and slept; knowing everything from then on, will be OK. She would no longer hear the whispers and cries from her daughter at night and make her ache in her heart. Tonight, no heart-felt words for her (Yuka's) father would be said; she knew her daughter had said a lot within a month and her father would have not been pleased with it.

Morning had risen and Mikan had risen with it; the sounds that used to vibrate the house had quieted down. It was silent. It wasn't at all awkward and not at all had it felt wrong to Mikan. Instead, it felt soothing and she knew today would be her day that her comfort will come. Quietly walking down the hallway instead of rushing to get ready, Mikan went to see her mother and saw her still fast asleep. And OK, her mother still drools, but one can't help.

"Pleasant dreams, mom," Mikan whispered and left like she was never there. She hummed her way back to her room to get ready for her first day in a month of school. She felt excited and ready; maybe that angel sprinkled something on that child while she was asleep. Probably happiness and adrenaline she hadn't felt in a month.

_I wonder about this guy; is he someone I had already met? Could it be my all-time crush? _Mikan froze in her spot when she was putting her second sock on. She shook her head rapidly; go away thoughts, she would have shouted. _Now that's crazy. Why would my crush come to me, especially since he never noticed me? Wait, maybe my absence got him to know me, considering how rumor spreads fast at my school. Oh, this is so troublesome!_Tying up her boots, Mikan tried everything to reason out with herself that her crush may have noticed her. _How do I know if Yura-san sent him a while back for this reason? Maybe he is the one that I'm supposed to marry! I wonder what our children would look like._With that last thought still in mind, Mikan finished up with getting ready and went to the kitchen to make her breakfast. Soon enough, out came a still tired Yuka who could barely open her eyes. Yes, she was that tired. The scent was whiffed into the mother's nose and suddenly, she could see. A miracle in thirty seconds…

"Mikan, are you making breakfast?" Yuka asked her daughter who was at the stove, flipping pancakes.

"If I wasn't, then I don't know what I'm doing now," Mikan replied and flipped a pancake onto a plate. "Do you want any?"

Yuka nodded unconsciously; was her daughter really making breakfast? That girl doesn't wake up until ten in the morning and not eat anything! Actually, it seems like this whole breakfast-thing was more than a good thing, the girl looked like skin and bones. At least that girl has some loose clothing on; otherwise people would think she's anorexic and that's one thing Yuka won't allow in the house.

Soon enough, Mikan had a plate full of pancakes and set it on the table. She quickly rushed back to the stove to finish making hers that needed to be flipped before they got burnt. Still in bewilderment, Yuka sat at the small, round table and looked at her pancakes. They looked so warm and tasty; and they were heart-shaped!

"Did something… happen?" Yuka asked her daughter without swiping her eyes off the plate of pancakes. It's not because she's hungry or she's drooling inside her mouth but she wasn't sure how her daughter would react to such a question.

"What do you mean?" Mikan asked and tilted her to the side when she turned her head to look at her mother. The look in her mother's eye seemed confused and not right at all. "Did something happen to you? Because you don't look so happy. Did you not want pancakes?"

Yuka softly chuckled; "No, it's not that, dear," she said. "It's just you were so depressed over your grandpa's death that you never acted this way for a while. What changed you?"

"Well, I'm still depressed over grandpa's death but an angel came to my room last night," Mikan's eyes twinkled with delight while Yuka's looked shocked. "She said my comfort would be found at school, that's why I'm so happy."

"Then I don't see the point of you getting some comfort if you're already happy," Yuka mumbled as she watched her daughter flip her pancakes happily while humming a soft tune. But whatever it takes to make her happy again will make others happy. Hasn't it always been that way?

* * *

"Have you heard?"

"Sakura, Mikan is back in school!"

"Argh, she's back? I was hoping she would be gone forever."

"I thought she'll be stuck at home until she dies."

"I was hoping for that, too."

Whispers of gossip were easily-spreadable at school, something Mikan can't deny. She was today's victim and apparently, people still knew her after a month. That was a thing Mikan wasn't hoping for; she wanted a brand new start, especially right after she gets some comfort from her comforter, whoever that may be.

Mikan kept walking and ignored the whispers that were getting louder. How she never exploded about something like this would be a mystery that will remain. She walked in between the thick lines of students so she can reach to her locker, which happened to be at the back of the school building. It was one of the reasons she was always late.

At the back of the building, there were five lockers. One was used by her and the other four were never used. They must be dirty with dust and cobwebs. She turned the dial on her locker and looked at the other four lockers that were vacant. Was this a reminder that she was alone? Her happy spirit that she had earlier that day was smothered by a saddened spirit. Thoughts alone can bring a person down.

Opening her locker to get a few books for her next few periods and then shutting it, she smelt something different. Was it cologne of some sort? She turned her head toward the scent and there stood her all-time crush, Ruka Nogi. Did he even know that this place existed or perhaps he got lost and wanted to know where he can find the social studies class.

"Are you Sakura, Mikan Sakura?" the blond boy asked with such a gentle voice. Too nervous to speak, Mikan nodded in reply. "I've been meaning to talk to you since you left. I didn't know where you lived and I called so many times and I caught your mother; she said to not bother you."

_Meaning to talk… to me? Since I left? Holy crap, he could be my comforter! OK, calm down, Mikan. Just chill… Act "cool" as some people say. _"You've been wanting to talk to me since last month?!" she yelled in surprise but it didn't bother the young boy. Acting cool… well, "cool" was never in her personality.

Ruka brought his hand to his mouth and covered half of it, laughing so softly and beautifully. "Ah, yes, Sakura-san, I've been wanting to talk to you since last month. But first, are you OK?"

Are you kidding? She's thrilled that her all-time crush wants to speak to her and he never gave her a glance before. This was so exciting that she forgot to listen to Ruka and she jumped on him to give him a great, big bear hug. She giggled when she wrapped her arms around him and forgot to remember that she was in school.

"Ah… S-Sakura-san," Ruka fumbled and flushed at the embrace he was being given. "I-I'm guessing y-you're fine."

"Sure am!" she giggled into his chest and Ruka felt the vibration, flustering a bit more.

"Not to offend you," Ruka cleared his throat and tried to regain some confidence, "but can you please let go of me? I don't know how long I can breathe."

Upon hearing that sentence, Mikan loosened her grip around him. Her arms were still wrapped around him but loosely, thus letting him breathe some air. Mikan watched him blow air out of his mouth and went flustered when Ruka looked at her. She pulled her arms to her sides in embarrassment that she was staring a bit too long.

"How should I say this?" Ruka asked to himself and looked at the ceiling, avoiding making any eye contact with the girl in front of him. He could feel her enthusiastic gaze slamming against him. How the heck is saying this when it's so agonizing? He coughed into his hand to wake him up from the awkwardness. "I would like to take you out…" he paused, "on a date."

She blinked innocently once, twice. Thrice. Was she not getting this? His palms were sweating that he might get rejected, but she was happy to see him. So how can she reject him? Maybe she can, just like that.

"Um, sure," she said softly. He turned his head to her; was that a 'yes?' _Seriously_? And here he thought he was an idiot. _Phew!_ A grin broke on his face and it softened into a genuine smile—a smile that will melt Mikan into a smelly puddle.

"Great," he said. "How about right after school?"

She nodded and quietly, he left her at the back of the school. The thought came striking to her—_grandpa. _She suddenly felt glum. Wasn't Ruka her comfort? _Grandpa_. Was her own grandfather haunting her? Had she done anything wrong to him? Mentally flipping through her _new-born_ book, she had puked on him at least twenty-four times. That wasn't her fault.

Now going through her _childhood_ book, she went through a few significant chapters. Yikes. She stole from him, gave him a heart-attack, accidentally tripped him (keyword: accidentally), and food-poisoned him. Geez, he was stuck in the "john" for oh-so long on that certain day. Mikan was worried that he may never come out and try out her new recipe she made up, even though that was how he got food-poisoned.

"I'm sorry, grandpa," Mikan mumbled and cried silently at her locker. "I didn't really mean any harm. I'm so sorry."

Falling to her knees, Mikan covered her face with her hands. It didn't matter if she would be late to class; she played hooky so many times over the last month. Where was the comfort the angel promised? Did the angel break it? No, angels never break promises. Wasn't that angel sent by God, Himself?

* * *

"Sakura, there you are!" he said, surprised to see her crying. His eyebrows furrowed, "What's wrong?"

She sniffed and wiped her tears with the back of her palm. "It's nothing," she whispered. "Shall we go?" By the tone of her voice, Ruka already knew what was wrong. She missed her grandpa still and he was here to witness her pain. Goodness, he's not good at comforting crying women.

"Do you want me to take you home?" Ruka asked the silent crying woman. "We don't have to do the date if it still hurts."

She nodded and she mumbled under her curtain of hair, "Then I would like you to take me home." He started leading the crying girl over to his car. He was also pained like her; he wanted to comfort her but there was no way he could do it. He felt so guilty and ashamed. He prayed silently that there will be a way for her to stop crying.

Mikan was introduced to a shiny, silver car in front of her. Man, Ruka must be rich if he drives a car like this everywhere. Being the gentleman he is, he opened the door for her and closed it once she got in. She mumbled a thank-you to him and buckled in her seatbelt.

Without saying anything, Ruka got in and buckled his seatbelt. He started the ignition and started driving off, still uncomforted by the sadden girl beside him in the car. He didn't know where she lived and it seemed wrong to ask her something during a moment like now. Had he not been like this when his best friend moved away? That may be a way to start a conversation—or it could be a way for him to comfort her.

So he tried it. "I was like this before." He got her attention and he doesn't know if it's a good sign or not. "My best friend moved away with his dad because of business. I haven't seen him for eight years and it still bothers me." He glanced at her and crap, she was crying more tears.

"Eight years, huh?" This was not looking good for the boy. "Will I be like that? Crying for eight years? It's been a month…"

"Ah, I didn't mean that, Sakura," Ruka grew nervous. "I meant by—"

"It's OK, I understand," she whispered. She tried to smile at him but she only gave him a sad smile. "Don't worry about it. I'll be OK, really."

He nodded quietly and refocused on the road again. He didn't mean the situation. Pfft, he didn't know what to do in a situation like this. I guess there's always a first for everything. At least she was willing to talk though. He can get the information where she lives so he can take her home.

"So," he began, "which way is your house?"

"To the right, a block ago," she said.

Whoops.

He made a U-turn in a No-U-Turn area and screeched his tire wheels against the ground. He might get a ticket for this later on since there were cameras on the streetlights. What is with this new law? Not all people are crazy drivers—wait, that's coming from the wrong person.

"You OK?" Ruka asked since his driving a minute ago was pretty bad. He glanced at Mikan again and her eyes were wide.

"Didn't you get an A plus from driving class?" Mikan asked, appalled.

Erm… yes, he did? Notice the question mark.

* * *

The drive home wasn't pleasant and it was silent. Mikan never knew that Ruka could be very bad at driving when he wants to be. Add a "le" gasp here. Mikan figured that he was nervous and that's what caused his bad driving back there. But whether nervous or not, you have to drive right or don't drive at all.

Ruka pulled up to Mikan's driveway and got out of the car to be the gentleman, once again. He opened the door for her and closed it when she came out. He walked her to the door and she thanked him again for driving her home. He was a nice guy all around but what comfort did she get out of him? OK, maybe that was written wrong. It sounds like she's using him.

She watched from the white curtains in the small living room. She saw him back out of the driveway and leave with a sadden look on his face. Maybe he wanted to comfort her as much as she wanted comfort. He was such a nice boy and his personality was rare to find. But maybe he wasn't the right one…

Mikan knew her mother wasn't home since she worked on night shifts. It seemed like Yuka also knew that her daughter would be fine for the rest of day, but alas, she isn't. The sorrow still hurts like she found out that her grandfather died just yesterday. She honestly thought he was going to live because last time he had a heart-attack, he lived. But unfortunately this time…

She ran to her room with tears brewing in her eyes. It was around four o'clock and her bed-time was nine. She had five more hours to deal with, thinking about her grandpa. She slammed her door shut and fell to her knees beside her bed. "Angel, it's getting worse!" she cried out to the Heavens. "I can't stop thinking of grandpa! Your comfort that you sent was a dud!"

Soon, the angel appeared again. "Mikan, Mikan," the girl said softly. "Ruka was not the comfort that I was bringing. Your comfort has yet to come. Remember, God works in mysterious ways. He brings the good out of the bad that was created by Satan." And the angel left, watching the girl from afar.

The brunette looked puzzled. Ruka was not her comfort? So, she's guessing, Ruka is not her future husband? Not her soul-mate? Of course she got no comfort out of him, but she still liked him. You can't easily detest someone when you liked him before. And she liked him _a lot._

"Wait, should I go to school tomorrow?" Mikan asked herself. "Because the angel said to go to school today but said nothing about tomorrow." She tapped her forefinger against her chin, thinking. "Didn't the angel say my comfort will be at school—_great_, I do have to go to school tomorrow."

The phone in the living room started to ring and Mikan heard it. She got up from her knees and started walking toward the living room. She went to see the caller ID and it said "unknown." She picked up anyway. She spoke into the microphone, "Hello?"

_"Nogi residence?"_ came a husky voice.

"No, it's the Sakura residence," Mikan corrected.

_"Damn, wrong number," _he let a loose word fly.

"I could give you the number," Mikan said. "I do know them."

_"Thanks… Sakura."_Ignoring the fact that a stranger called her by her surname, Mikan went on to tell him the phone number. After a thanks and a welcome, Mikan ended the call and sat on the couch, just staring at the walls. They need color; white is too blank. And why not some pictures? That will add something to them.

"I may need to talk to my mom about this," Mikan said to herself. "It's too blank."

With that said, she got off the couch and started making herself dinner. She needed to finish the homework that she was given by Anna when she played hooky during school hours. Although she was grateful that Anna brought them, she was disturbed that she had to do the homework when she didn't know where they're were at since she's been gone for a month.

"I'm too scared to even look in the textbooks," Mikan said to herself while preparing dinner by adding ingredients together. "They already got a new textbook while I was away; who knows what it contains."

She started stirring the ingredients in boiling water which was in a pot on a stove. She was still bothered by the thought of her grandfather. He had died of a heart-attack because her. If she only was there then maybe her grandfather wouldn't have died. Knowing she had already cried one too many times on that day, she decided to suck it up for the rest of the night and not cry.

But what would happen tomorrow? Would she cry even more? … Just what?

The scent of the food started filling the air and it became enchanting to the girl's nose. She tested the soup she was making herself; it needed more salt. She grabbed the salt and put a dash in, stirring it so the taste would be in the entire soup, not just a portion of it.

After stirring, she took another taste of it. It tastes much better than before when it didn't have much salt. She turned the stove off and went to a cabinet to retrieve a bowl. With the bowl in one hand, she used her other one to fill it with the soup she made. She put a lid on it and saved the rest for her mother who will eventually come home.

Her feet moved toward the living room and she plopped herself right on the couch. She reached for the remote that was beside her and flipped the TV on. The News was on and it showed a family getting off a plane. What was so interesting about them when the camera got up close is that the two younger ones that were getting off had red eyes. Such a strange color for eyes…

_"The Hyuuga family has returned to Japan from America; they were gone for eight years because of business," _the reporter spoke. _"It has been rumored that the Hyuuga Corporation has signed a treaty to the Nogi Corporation recently."_The soup that entered Mikan's mouth was quickly spat out. Wait a darn minute; did he say 'Nogi?' Like Ruka Nogi? Since when was Ruka rich? Mikan glanced at the ground and saw liquid and chunks of meat on the ground. She needs to clean that up before Yuka will have a fit.

"I knew that cologne wasn't cheap!" Mikan yelled, reminiscing when Ruka came to talk to her earlier that day.

… Nothing in the world is cheap.

* * *

School had come like the morning comes every day. Mikan was walking down the hallways at school, happy that she got less looks from other students. Nothing bad will happen, she decided. Actually, she felt more alive and at peace. She gave a few passing students a smile and a wave or a 'good morning.' It bewildered the students but they played along.

Suddenly, she got roughly shoved to the ground, knees and hands first. She looked for anyone who was near that roughly bumped into her. Only one guy was there and he was glaring at her. "Watch where you're going, polka-dots," he spat. Quickly, he sped off like he was late for something, but then a few girls ran after him, crying out his name which Mikan couldn't decipher.

"Wait a minute," she said under her breath. Around her, she heard a few chuckles and she caught on. "That stupid pervert!" She had never felt so embarrassed in her life. Students that were around her were already laughing at her like she made the most humorous joke.

"Wow, this has to be the first time I've ever seen Hyuuga check a girl out," a boy chuckled along with his posse. He jabbed a few jokes at him and then at the girl like she wasn't listening, but, unfortunately, she was listening.

She had stood back on her feet and let her head droop down so her bangs could cover her face. The boys were now focusing their jokes on the girl only. Her newly-clenched fists were starting to shake and her fingernails were digging into her first layer of skin. She bit on her bottom lip, trying hard not to let small pools form into her eyes.

"Whoa," a boy stopped laughing and examined the girl across from him. "Is she crying?" He took a step close to her to see her whole body shaking. He saw her hands clench tighter and her shoulders were stiff yet shaky.

"Tsk, tsk, Hayate-kun," a boy tapped his forefinger against his other forefinger; mainly used a sign for "shame on you." His eyes shifted from the shaking girl to the boy who was now so close to her that all he needed to do was lower his hand to touch her shoulder. "It's not polite to put jokes on a sweet girl."

Hayate turned his head to the boy in rage. "It's not my fault that you also laughed!" he yelled and scowled when he saw the other boy, Yakumo, roll his eyes in disgust. "What the heck is wrong with you, huh, you ba—"

"_Hayate-kun,_" Rui, the one who was tapping his forefingers together, snapped. "Don't use such profanity in front of an angel."

Mikan then lifted her head to show her face to the three older males. One was enraged and he was standing by her, the other was smiling sort of in a girlish way and he stood by locker thirteen and then the last one was plainly pissed off at the situation. _What a weird group…_ she had wondered off. She never had expected three different people to be together.

"Look!" shouted a glee Rui. "She is showing us her angel beauty!"

Yakumo sighed and muttered to Rui, "Are you trying to confuse me about your sexual orientation?"

Rui turned to Yakumo and said the words like "Nonsense!" and "I'm still the same person!" with that freaky glee of his.

Mikan furrowed her eyebrows; it seems like she was catching on pretty fast. "So…" she began and caught the older ones' attention. "Is he," she pointed at Yakumo with her eyes set on Rui, "saying that you're gay?"

It was quiet between the four of them but Rui blinked more than the other three. All of a sudden, a hearty chortle came out of his mouth. He fanned himself with one hand and lightly put his other hand on his chest. "Of course, I am!" he shouted. "There's nothing I need to hide; I'm already out."

"Well…" Mikan started to feel more uncomfortable, "good for you, I guess." She tried to bare a smile on her face but it was painful for her to give one out to this stranger. By the look on the stranger's face, he seemed slightly bothered by the pained-looking smile.

Step by step, Rui walked to her and patted her on head when he reached her. "Don't force yourself to smile if you don't want to," he said with a Cheshire cat smile on his face.

Mikan nodded and Rui continued to talk, "Now I know we got off at a bad start with the lame jokes—"

"They weren't lame, they were pure gold," Hayate interrupted but was ignored anyway.

"—but we can start over and be friends, right?" Rui looked expectantly at Mikan. Unsure whether to say yes or no, she decided to just nod her head and keep going. "That's fantastic!" Rui lowered his height and hugged the young girl till she could no longer breathe.

Slithering very slowly out of his embrace, Mikan began to speak, "If we're going to be friends then… I'm Mikan Sakura."

"Oh, yes, yes," Rui said. "I'm Rui Amane. The one who's a bit of a fireball is Hayate Matsudaichi and the one who usually makes no comment on anything is Yakumo Hajime."

"I advise you to be quiet," Yakumo said to Rui.

"Like I said, _usually_ makes no comment," Rui repeated himself and cared less about what Yakumo said to him.

The bell suddenly rang through the hallways and feet scampered to their designated classrooms. Mikan jumped in alarm when she heard the bell and started to run to her classroom, scared that she might get punished for coming in late.

Before she could madly dash down the hallways, Rui caught her wrist. He 'tsk'-ed her like he did with Hayate and said, "Where do you think you're going, young lady?"

Mikan looked back, her face getting paler and paler in freight. "Class!" she yelled. "Where else would I go?"

Rui looked back at Hayate and Yakumo, winking as if it were a signal to a plan they had made. "Well, Miss Sakura, today you'll be hanging with us," Rui said as if it was the easiest thing for her to do. "But we're going to play hooky—"

"I can't do that," Mikan whined. "I'll get into more trouble than just coming in late."

Rui rolled his eyes and asked, "Weren't you the one that played hooky for a month?"

Unfortunately, she _was_ the one that played hooky for a month, but she wasn't going to admit that to him. Geez, shouldn't he already know that she was the one? Everyone in school already knew about it and they kept talking about her. Was it really necessary then to ask?

Refusing to speak, Rui decided to just pull her with him. As soon as he started dragging her, she started fighting back by trying to pull her arm back or at least trying to kick him (which failed every time because he kept dodging).

"Let me go!" she yelled in strain during her failing attempt to pull her arm out.

Thinking the idea to reveal the plan to her was decent; he decided to announce it to her, "Do you want revenge back on Hyuuga?"

She became very quiet and still. He took that as a yes.

"Good, now let's keep moving then," he said and started tugging at her arm again.

"Wait!" she gasped. "Who's Hyuuga?"

Considerably a problem to Rui, Hayate and Yakumo; apparently, the three had been wanting revenge on him since the Hyuuga Corporation sold out their families and they have been working hard to regain their riches.

"So you're telling me that you want revenge on Hyuuga-kun because you're no longer rich?" she questioned and started fiddling with some grass when the three brought her outside. "Won't that be considered as shallow?"

"Well, yeah—" Hayate was interrupted by Rui (slightly angering him when doing it).

"It doesn't matter whether it's shallow or not," Rui snapped again. "I cannot take being in this nasty school any longer. Even though there are some cute fellows in this school, it is much too dirty for my taste."

Mikan reminisced about her school when she attended it regularly. Alice Academy wasn't all too bad for her when she entered; in fact she made a few friends easily at the beginning of the week. Not only did she make friends at the school, but she found love too.

Almost inaudibly, she sighed dreamily when her thoughts came upon Ruka. Her thoughts began when she first met him and chased to yesterday's memories. Yesterday's she wasn't quite fond of and she decided to try to forget them but it was already too late. Her thoughts were once again laid upon her grandfather. Why did he have to die?

Yakumo jabbed his elbows into both high-schoolers' shoulder and continued looking at the depressed girl. Her shoulders were slumped and her hair covered her face again. Hayate moved to poke her shoulder to see if she was crying again.

"_What?_" she glared at him with tears blurring her eyes.

Hayate said nothing but he raised his hands in the air in surrender. He didn't want to get on her bad side.

"Is there something wrong?" Rui asked and furrowed his eyebrows. "You can always tell us."

Mikan sniffled and replied, "Nothing's wrong. I'm fine."

"By the looks of it," Yakumo began, "it seems something is wrong."

Mikan looked up at Yakumo, slightly surprised that he said something to her. She thought about the situation she was in and decided that it was OK to tell them this. They won't make fun of her, she thought.

"It's just my grandpa died because of a heart attack," Mikan mumbled and refused to look at the three men's faces. "I didn't want to leave home period but then _something_ got me to go to school. Since yesterday, I haven't been at school for a month."

"You poor thing!" Rui cried and hugged the girl tightly.

"Question," Hayate rose his hand, "when you said _something_, what do you mean?"

Mikan blinked a couple of times before she registered the words inside her head. Was she going to risk to tell them this and to cause humiliation to herself? Well, it's better to tell them the truth anyway. "An angel came to me a night ago," Mikan said. "She told me that my comfort will come to me."

"Are we your comfort?" Hayate asked in awe and interest.

The young girl furrowed her eyebrows, as if giving the answer away. She shook her head slowly and a frown appeared on Hayate's face. She felt guilty, knowing that they're thinking they're no help to her at all.

"Oh, well," Rui said and waved his hand in the air. "It's not like we're any good comfort to each other, either."

"It seems we enrage each other more rather than comfort," Yakumo said and stared into the blue-colored sky.

To assume that these three older men were nut-heads would be understatement but they seemed a lot like brothers in Mikan's eyes. Sure, they were strange, tempered and shallow, but they seemed to understand each other.

"Hyuuga!"

The three whipped their heads toward the way Hayate was pointing at. There was Natsume, sitting on the roof with his legs hanging over the side. He was looking at the sky in the peace and quiet but Hayate always liked to ruin his peace.

"Let's go get him!" Hayate yelled and started taking off before the rest could stand.

Rui shushed his chortle under his throat. "That Hayate-kun…" Rui sighed gleefully and continued, "He amazes with his never-ending anger toward that Hyuuga."

"So I'm assuming that you've taken a liking to Hayate," Yakumo said and stood to his feet before the other two.

Rui jerked his head to look at Yakumo. "No, that's silly!" Rui laughed again. "I like him but not like that!"

"Should we do something?" Mikan asked, not looking at the older two men that were beside her.

Rui looked down and asked, "Like what?"

Mikan pointed to where Natsume was sitting and there was Hayate dangling over the roof with his ankle caught by the younger boy's hand. "Should we help Hayate-san before he gets hurt?"

"Nah!" Rui said. "That boy is almost invincible; once he falls, he'll get right back up."

"If you say so," Mikan said and was caught off guard when Rui started pushing her away from the scene.

Everything went unnoticed by Mikan for she was paying more attention to the students who were pushing her away from the scene. Unknown to her, Hayate fell down and hit the ground; head first. Although there weren't any bad injuries compared to if he jumped off a fifty-story building.

When Natsume let go of Hayate's ankle, his gaze left the older boy and went to the girl that was walking with the two older men. He was familiar with the two older men but the young girl didn't fit in the group. Only one thing went through his head; _That must be her._

* * *

Ruka was leaning against Mikan's locker, occasionally glancing at his wristwatch to see what time it is. He would look around the hallways to see if any teachers were coming his way. He decided that he wanted to leave class early to see Mikan before the bell rings. He felt guilty for what happened yesterday. Like it was his fault…

He glanced again at his watch; just a few more minutes before the bell rings. His ears perked when they heard footsteps nearing. His gaze quickly flew down the hallway to see if there were any teachers but there wasn't any, rather it was Natsume walking down the hall.

"Ruka," Natsume pronounced and stayed a distance away from him. "Remember how you told me that you wanted me to meet this Sakura-girl?"

Ruka nodded quietly and lifted himself off the locker that he was leaning against.

"I think I saw her earlier with two older men," Natsume spat out 'two older men' like it was bitter to say. "Knowing them, you wouldn't like her to hang with them."

"Where was she at the last time you saw her?" Ruka asked.

"It'd be better to use the roof and find her that way," Natsume replied. "She could be anywhere on school grounds, that much I know."

Ruka nodded with determination in his blizzard blue eyes. Natsume started leading the way while Ruka followed him close behind. The two tried to remain quiet while running through the hallways but their steps were unable to be hushed so easily.

The two kicked the doors open while rushing outside; they stumbled in their run because of their kick but they resumed back to their pace quickly as they could. Natsume turned here and there while Ruka followed every foot step, occasionally looking left or right to see if he could spot Mikan along the way.

"Natsume," Ruka said when Natsume started climbing up a garbage bin. "What did the two men look like? It might be easier for me to find them."

The older child remained quiet for a moment of period and then said, "Found them."

Ruka rushed to the top of the building and stood beside Natsume to scan the grounds. His eyes landed upon the girl he's been wanting to date for a while. Desperate to take Mikan away from the three instead of two, he jumped off the building and landed on his feet perfectly. None of this was seen by Natsume; rather his eyes were on the girl and the three men.

"Sakura!" Ruka yelled and started waving one hand in the air in a gesture to catch her attention because of their distance. His feet landed upon soft green grass and he slid on his knees when he became close to her.

Mikan turned to see the boy on his knees with possible grass stains painted on his pants. "Ruka-pyon!" Mikan shouted, flabbergasted. She bent her knees and lent her hand out to him so she could help him stand once again. "What are you doing?"

"What am _I_ doing?" Ruka asked, seething quietly. "What are you doing here with three older men? No, let me rephrase that; what are you doing here with _criminals_?"

"Criminals?" Mikan repeated with one of her eyebrows perked. "They're not criminals; they just lost their money because of this 'Hyuuga' they keep complaining about."

"They didn't lose anything."

Mikan turned to the owner of the voice to see it was that Hyuuga that the three men were talking about. Her eyes narrowed at the lad and she placed her hands on her hips. "And you know this how?" Her cheeks puffed up and her eyebrows were turning into a curving V.

He rolled his eyes at her ignorance but decided to not point it out so bluntly. "Have you ever seen the news concerning three robbers that stole five banks in one night?"

Upon hearing the question, Mikan looked taken aback and she became confused. "Let's get something straight first," Mikan started, "I don't watch TV and I'm slightly proud that I made myself watch TV last night."

Natsume crossed his arms over his chest. "Is that so?" he questioned. "What did you watch last night?"

"The News."

The crimson-eyed lad lazily threw his head to look over at Ruka, as if he was asking if it is so that this was the girl he wanted to date so desperately. Ruka turned to look at him and he felt embarrassed because he already knew what Natsume was thinking.

Something in Ruka's pocket started to vibrate and Ruka slipped his hand into his pocket and out. His cell phone appeared in his hands and he answered it.

"Such a stupid excuse…" Natsume mumbled quietly as if he asked an earlier question as to why Ruka wanted to date this stupid girl in front of him.

With one finger in his ear, Ruka turned to Natsume and casted him a glare with his usual innocent eyes. The blonde mumbled words into the microphone and he noticed after a while that no one was talking. Maybe they were listening to his conversation.

"'K. Good-bye." With that, Ruka hung up the phone and placed it back in his pocket. He turned to the other students again but his eyes only acknowledged Mikan and Natsume. "I have to go because my mother was beckoning me to come with her on some trip since last week. I would like you to know that beckoning was her word of choice, not mine. Mine was rather commanding. I will see you two later on."

"Whatever, _Ru-chan_," Natsume teased and tried to make the last part inaudible for the other three men to hear.

Ruka turned to Natsume and became slightly red. His eyes flashed with anger and embarrassment mixed together. How could Natsume call him that in front Mikan? How would he choose to die rather than face embarrassment that involves Mikan watching.

Hastily, Ruka ran out of the school grounds and wave to the two. Mikan waved back for a small amount of time.

"Anyway," Rui drew back their attention to their current situation.

"Hyuuga!" Hayate yelled and tackled Natsume to the ground.

Mikan turned to the two that were on the ground and made a move to separate them. She tried to fit through them by squeezing herself in between their bodies. "Stop, you two!" Mikan's word emitted out of her mouth and got hit occasionally by trying to separate them.

"It's all Hyuuga's fault!" Hayate yelled in her ear that was painfully loud. "We'd still be rich if he wasn't here!"

"You should be happy," Natsume mumbled through his gritted teeth. "I didn't let you go into jail when your chances to going in were thick."

"Like I cared!" Hayate yelled at his face.

"I said stop!" Mikan yelled to both of them and shoved them both apart. While the both of them were separating, Mikan got entangled with a pair of arms and fell along with him. In the end, her lips were sadly pushed against his.

"You go, Hayate!" Rui chanted and elbowed Yakumo in the side. "Looks like this is a girl that Hyuuga won't be getting."

Yakumo sighed and said to Hayate, "What are you going to do about Imai now, Hayate?"

With that said Hayate shoved Mikan off him and wiped his lips with the back of his hand. He felt guilty even though the two weren't dating. Mikan also wiped her lips but was in shock that the Imai they were talking about was her best friend since grade school.

"You know Hotaru?" Mikan asked.

Rui nodded and replied, "Of course we do! She's been Hayate's crush for so long!"

Turning a rosy red, Hayate tried to cover himself by saying she wasn't. "Someone's got a crush," Natsume said out of the blue. "Isn't that cute?" He rolled his eyes and started getting up from where he sat.

"Why don't you just shut it, Hyuuga?" Hayate quickly turned to glare at the one that was standing and slowly got up himself.

Ignoring him, Natsume turned to Mikan and said, "You"—he pointed at her—"come with me. Ruka doesn't want you to be with them."

"These are my friends!" She stomped her foot to emphasize her anger.

No matter, Natsume went towards her and picked her up by the waist. He threw her onto his shoulder and started walking away from the three who were flabbergasted as much as Mikan. "They shouldn't be called your friends," Natsume spat. "They're friggen criminals. Learn that."

A swift kick was hit to his chest. "Let me go, you jerk!" A swift punch hit his back. "Otherwise, I'll…"

"What would you do?" he quirked a brow and rearranged her on his shoulder. "Kill me?"

"I will if I must!" Mikan shouted purposefully in his ear. He flinched and his hand slapped to his ear to cover it.

"What in Sam's Hill are you two doing?" a teacher yelled from the school building. He started stomping toward the two with his fists clenching to the side.

Upon the teacher coming right into Natsume's face, he thought he had to get out of the situation—fast. "I'm just bringing Sakura back to class since I saw her out here doing drugs," Natsume answered and hitched Mikan up to show the teacher that she was being dragged back into school.

"Is that so?" the teacher quirked his scruffy eyebrow and went behind Natsume when he saw the nod for a reply. "Do we need to send you to those _special classes_, Miss Sakura?"

"No!"—she kicked Natsume in this chest—"Hyuuga is lying just to get out of his own trouble."

The teacher went back to Natsume and said, "You two—" he glanced at Mikan's butt—"are to stay after school for detention."

"What!" Mikan yelled from behind. Her punches became continuous and they must've left bruises on Natsume's back. "This isn't fair!"

"March to your classes." The teacher pointed to the school building and waited for Natsume to start walking then following after him until he got into the school building.

Once entering the building, Natsume slid Mikan down to the ground gently. With her feet touching the ground, Mikan kicked him in the shin and ran straight to the female's bathroom.

* * *

The bell rang for the final time of the day. Mikan was still in the last stall of the feminine bathroom. The footsteps outside could be heard easily from the bathroom and she waited until she could no longer hear the footsteps.

"Miss Sakura!" a female voice cried out her name. The woman came into the bathroom and cried her name again. "Miss Sakura!" She checked for feet behind the stalls and only saw one pair of feet.

"In here," a voice spoke back.

The female went to the stall and stood beside it. "Miss Sakura, one of the teachers informed that you're supposed to be at detention right now," the woman said.

"Is everyone gone?"

"Yes, except the teachers and one student who is also serving in detention."

"Is he Hyuuga-san?"

It was quiet for a moment but the teacher answered, "Yes, it is."

The stall was thrown open and out came the girl. "Can't I serve another day?" Mikan asked.

The teacher shook her head and started leading the student to detention where she will be with Hyuuga for a whole hour. An hour to which she didn't mean to serve after school.

A knock came softly against the door and the teacher opened the door to only push Mikan inside. The female teacher left quickly as she came and Mikan knew this wasn't her day.

First, this guy so-called Hyuuga came out of nowhere and shoved her to the ground, thus letting him peek at her under-garment. Then her new friends start making jokes about her and then took her away as "hostage" from Ruka's point of view. After that, she gets caught by an elderly teacher and she gets blamed for doing drugs because of Hyuuga. Now she has to stick with him for a whole hour. To sum it all up—it sucks.

"Oi," the deep voice that Mikan became familiar with called. "I'll get us out of here since you're mentally cursing me right now."

She narrowed her eyes at him and replied, "I don't need your help."

He shrugged with his shoulders, "Fine then."

Taking a seat on the second row—far from Natsume—Mikan pulls out a notebook to use her time with. Her pencil slid against the paper smoothly as she continued to doodle. "What are you drawing?" Mikan hitched her breath when she felt someone towering over here. Quickly, she shoved the notebook to her chest.

She turned her head to glare at him with her chocolate-colored eyes. "What does it matter to you?" she asked and still didn't give up the glare when he made no movement.

"I just wanted to see," he put his hands in surrender, "is that so bad?"

"In fact, it is," she spat. "Because _you're_ the one who got me into detention—with you nonetheless."

The door creaked open and entered the teacher. By his appearance, Natsume knew he could get out of detention easily and Mikan didn't even know the teacher yet. Nervously, the teacher brought his glasses closer to his eyes and tried not to peek at the students.

"Teacher," Natsume said. "I have business to do with my father; let me out."

Gulping once, twice, the teacher looked up to see the students but was relieved when he only saw two. He was amazed about how many students there were yesterday. "I'm sorry, Mr. Hyuuga,"—the teacher readjusted his glasses—"but the principal clearly stated—"

"I can fire that principal anytime I want since my father is paying him," Natsume interrupted the teacher who in the end was speechless.

"You may go," the teacher quickly said and opened the door to let Natsume out. Before Natsume started walking to the door, he whispered in her ear, "Have fun." He then began walking to the door to leave.

The poor pencil was snapped in half by the hand of Mikan who was beginning to turn red out of anger. _Why am I always irritated when he's around?_

The answer that he seeks is why is he so amused whenever she speaks?

And why do his ears sometimes want to bleed when she does?

The world may never know…

* * *

Slamming the front door open, Mikan rushed to her bedroom to speak once again with the angel. When will her comfort come?

"Angel!" Mikan shouted with anger seething.

The angel came gracefully and was not pleased to see the young girl unhappy. She was indeed stunned that the girl was angry rather than sad. "What is it, child?" the angel asked softly.

"When on earth will my comfort come?" Mikan demanded.

The angel thought for a moment as if she forgot that she had sent a comfort. "Ah, yes," she remembered. "He was at school today, wasn't he?"

Mikan sighed heavily, "How should I know?"

"Did you meet a Natsume Hyuuga?" the angel asked. The room went silent for a moment and Mikan made no move. "I'm guessing that you had—"

"He was my comfort?!" Mikan bellowed. "Out of all people, he was the one? He saw my panties, insulted me as so, and he got me into detention and I know my mom will freak over it because—"

"Did you reminisce about you grandfather at all?"

And that shut Mikan right up…

_**To all those who shed their tears every day; do not worry. Your comfort will come.**_

* * *

**A/N:** This took me a whole month to write and I'm publishing it on Halloween. Isn't that a joy?

- Etsuko


End file.
